Kong’s Gross Domestic Product
Transcript of Kong’s Gross Domestic Product
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For discussion on
1 June 2015
Legislative Council Panel on Financial Affairs
Pilot Programme to Enhance Talent Training for
the Insurance Sector and the Asset and Wealth Management Sector
PURPOSE
This paper briefs Members on the proposed pilot programme to
enhance talent training for the insurance sector and the asset and wealth
management sector.
JUSTIFICATIONS
2. The financial services industry constituted about 16.5% of Hong
Kong’s Gross Domestic Product and employed 238 000 persons in 2014,
accounting for 6.3% of the total labour workforce. As projected by the latest
Manpower Projection to 2022 prepared by the Labour and Welfare Bureau, the
financial services industry is the fastest growing economic sector in terms of
manpower requirements during the period from 2012 to 2022, with a projected
average annual growth rate of 2.2%, much higher than that of 0.9% for overall
Hong Kong. Shortage of manpower and quality personnel will hamper the
development of the financial services industry.
3. In his 2014-15 Budget, the Financial Secretary tasked the Financial
Services and the Treasury Bureau (“FSTB”) to conduct a study on the training
of professionals and skilled personnel in various sectors of the financial
services industry. Through consultation with the financial services industry on
the issue of talent training, we note that there is broad consensus that
manpower shortage is particularly acute in the insurance and the asset and
wealth management sectors. The industry has suggested that the Government
could help promote the industry, enhance the professional competence of
practitioners and, in particular, train up more talent for middle and back
offices.
CB(1)870/14-15(03)
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Insurance Sector
4. The insurance sector has expressed concerns that it is facing
multi-faceted problems in talent training and development. At the
macro-level, insurance is disadvantaged in competing with other sectors in
financial services for talents due to a lack of understanding of the insurance
industry and a low public awareness of the wide range of career opportunities
and the career paths of professionals in different functions in insurance.
5. Sectorally, it is a global phenomenon that the general insurance
business (e.g. health, employee compensation, motor, fire and property, marine
and cargo insurance, etc.) has difficulties in recruiting young talents when
compared to life insurance business due to its relatively diverse and technical
nature, meaning that it takes more time to master various job skills and
knowledge in general insurance than those in the life insurance business.
6. Functionally, the industry sees an acute shortage of skills in areas
such as professional brokerage (e.g. advising corporate clients on the
insurance cover for infrastructural projects) and technical areas of life
insurance including underwriting1, claims management
2, compliance and
policy operation services3
. These functions are technical and highly
specialized, meaning that the learning curve for performing these functions
satisfactorily is long and steep. Many of the skills have to be acquired on the
job.
7. In terms of enhancing the professionalism of insurance practitioners,
the industry generally welcomes additional resources to augment the quality of
insurance-specific training courses and the production of training materials.
At present, there are only a few high-end training courses, i.e. those with a
higher level of technical contents and involve overseas experts, available in
the market and they are expensive, often limiting participants to those
supported by corporate sponsorship. Moreover, in order to meet new
regulatory requirements in the next few years, such as the establishment of the
independent Insurance Authority (“IIA”), the industry opines that practitioners
need to be kept up to date with the details of the new regulatory requirements.
Government financial support for organising such courses could make them
1 Insurance underwriter evaluates the risks of insuring a particular person or asset and uses that
information to set premium pricing for insurance policies.
2 Insurance claims handling involves activities such as settling claims, detecting fraud, and
carrying out subrogation recoveries.
3 Policy operation services involve activities pertaining to the maintenance of existing policies
such as policy alternation, replacement for lost policies and explanation of policy coverage, etc.
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affordable to a wider range of existing insurance practitioners, thus enhancing
the competency, professionalism and regulatory compliance of the
practitioners.
Asset and wealth management sector
8. Statistics indicate that asset and wealth management is a fast-growing
sector within the financial services industry. According to the Securities and
Futures Commission’s Fund Management Activities Survey 2013, Hong
Kong’s combined fund management business sustained a year-on-year growth
of 27% to achieve another record high of $16,007 billion at the end of 2013.
The total number of staff engaged in the fund management business increased
by 15% from about 27 700 in 2009 to 31 830 in 2013.
9. With the fast economic growth and wealth creation in Asia, as well as
continued financial market liberalization in the Mainland, we see profound
development potential in this area. To sharpen Hong Kong’s competitive edge
as a premier international asset and wealth management centre, on the policy
front, we have been implementing various initiatives to develop Hong Kong
into a full-service asset management hub4.
10. Meanwhile, we have not lost sight of the need to promote the
development of manpower resources for pursuing the growth of the sector.
Industry feedback however indicates that there is not sufficient information to
allow students and graduates to better understand the full spectrum of
functional posts and career prospect of different sub-sectors within the sector.
In particular, it is difficult to attract talent to join the more technical areas (e.g.
risk management, compliance, operations), which leads to staff shortage
problem. Given the intense staff poaching among firms, many individual firms
have little incentive to invest in in-house training and development or to
groom fresh graduates. There is also insufficient training resources and
shortage of experienced local trainers and diversified training courses.
11. We need to ensure that our talent pool has the capacity and right skill
set to meet the growing needs of the asset and wealth management sector.
Enhancing talent training is therefore another area which is crucial for the
further development of the sector.
4 For example, we have been taking forward the initiative to introduce a new open-ended fund
company structure to attract more funds to domicile in Hong Kong, which will in turn help build
up Hong Kong’s fund development capabilities. The mutual recognition of funds arrangement
between Hong Kong and the Mainland will be an added incentive for funds to domicile in Hong
Kong.
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PROPOSALS
12. Taking into account the views of the industry, we propose to launch a
three-year pilot programme focusing on the insurance sector and the asset and
wealth management sector, and allocate $100 million to implement various
initiatives to enhance talent promotion and training. Details of the pilot
programme are provided in paragraphs 13-41 below.
Insurance Sector
13. For the insurance sector, the proposed initiatives are geared towards
training and developing talents to fill the skills gaps in specific areas of
insurance business, in particular, general insurance, professional brokerage
and functional areas of life insurance including underwriting, claims
management, compliance and policy operation services.
(I) Public education programme
14. Noting that the public does not have adequate understanding of
insurance as well as the insurance industry, we propose to mount a three-year
public education campaign starting 2015-16 to promote public awareness of
the wide range of career opportunities in the insurance sector and the career
paths of functional jobs in the sector. We wish to drive home the message
that insurance is in fact an important risk management financial tool requiring
professional skills and technical knowledge to perform different functional
jobs, such as underwriting, claims management and professional brokerage,
etc. and that the insurance industry is a promising and interesting sector that
offers plenty of opportunities for career advancement. To ensure that the
initiatives under the public education programme meet the needs of the
industry, a working group with representatives from the three Self-regulatory
Organisations (“SROs”), i.e. the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers (“HKFI”)5,
Confederation of Insurance Brokers (“CIB”) and Professional Insurance
Brokers Association (“PIBA”), will be set up to provide input and feedback to
the Vocational Training Council (“VTC”) (please see paragraph 34 below on
the implementation agent).
15. The proposed public education programme will target secondary and
tertiary students, parents, teachers, and career masters in secondary schools.
Focus group meetings would be conducted with these different groups of
target audience to gauge their perception of the insurance industry and
5 The Insurance Agents Registration Board is set up by HKFI.
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understanding of career opportunities in the industry. Taking into account
their different needs, we would develop different engagement strategies. For
example, for tertiary students, we would focus on the range of career
opportunities, career pathways and the skillsets required for different
functional jobs in insurance. We would also collaborate with the three SROs
in organising outreach programmes, identifying prominent figures from the
industry to speak as role models. For secondary students, the objective is to
enhance their understanding of and the nature of jobs in the insurance industry.
We would arrange interactive learning activities, develop learning kits such as
information booklets, animations, comics and an e-learning portal.
16. As for publicity to promote the image of the insurance industry in
general, subject to further discussion with the trade and the findings of the
focus group meetings, we would make use of both traditional media targeting
parents and the general public, and social media targeting students. Potential
deliverables include newspaper advertorials, advertisements, printed materials
and promotion through social media like discussion forums or social
networking sites using short film or blogs. We also plan to set up a dedicated
website to provide an interactive platform linking up employers in the
insurance sector and the youth (e.g. reference can be made to
www.discoverrisk.co.uk).
(II) Training allowance for work-and-learn programme
17. Most graduates are unfamiliar with the work of an insurance
practitioner, thus according the insurance sector a low priority when
considering career choices. On the other hand, the learning curve for some
technical jobs in the insurance sector could be long and steep. A new recruit
needs to spend years in mastering the basic know-how and skills, and
acquiring experience to perform very specific jobs satisfactorily. For
example, practising marine insurance requires the basic knowledge of both the
marine industry and insurance industry as well as understanding of technical
terms and laws related to carriage of goods, etc. We believe that a structured
work-and-learn programme would be useful in filling these gaps as it allows
candidates to receive class-room training on insurance knowledge for further
progression of their careers, while acquiring hands-on work experience and
making earnings during the study period.
18. HKFI has initiated and launched a work-and-learn programme named
the Young Insurance Executive Development Programme (“the Programme”)
with the assistance of VTC since March 2015. A student enrolled in the
course will attend classes at a VTC institute a day a week and work at an
HKFI member insurer four days a week. Target candidates of the
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programme are degree holders or Higher Diploma holders with more than one
year working experience. Participating insurers have undertaken to provide
on-the-job training, pay each student-worker an annual remuneration of no
less than $120,000, fully sponsor the student-workers’ tuition fees payable to
VTC6 and offer other full time staff benefits like annual leave and employees’
compensation insurance, etc. Students successfully completing the
Programme will receive a “Professional Diploma in Insurance” and they will
be eligible to apply for professional membership of the Australian and New
Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (“ANZIIF”) and the Chartered
Insurance Institute (“CII”) which allows them to attain further career
advancement7.
19. We propose to –
(a) extend the Programme to cover professional insurance
brokerage;
(b) enhance the attractiveness of both programmes by offering a
training allowance of $30,000 per year to each student-worker
(on top of the annual remuneration of no less than $120,000
paid by the participating employer) during the 16-month
traineeship (i.e. the total training allowance received by a
student-worker during the 16-month traineeship will be
$40,000); and
(c) restrict the placements under the Programme to areas where the
industry has difficulties in recruiting new talents, such as
general insurance, professional brokerage and functional areas
of life insurance including underwriting, claims management,
compliance and policy operation services. Target candidates
of the programmes will be (a) degree holders; or (b) Higher
Diploma holders with more than one year working experience.
Experienced candidates who do not meet the academic
requirements will be considered on a case by case basis. An
appraising system would be in place to evaluate whether a
student-worker’s performance at work and attendance record at
school were satisfactory before the allowance is awarded.
6 As at March 2015, the tuition fee is HK$28,800 for 8 modules under the programme.
7 Successful graduates will be eligible to apply for Senior Associate memberships of ANZIIF and
obtain exemption (up to 120 credits) from CII.
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20. For participating employers, in addition to the package under
paragraph 18 which includes providing on-the-job training, pay each
student-worker an annual remuneration of no less than $120,000 during the
traineeship, fully sponsor the student-workers’ tuition fees payable to VTC
and offer other full time staff benefits like annual leave and employees’
compensation insurance, etc., they have to guarantee that upon graduation, if
the student-workers are employed by the companies concerned as full time
employees, the employers would offer an annual remuneration8 of no less
than $150,000, which is the sum of the remuneration paid by the company
plus the training allowance paid by the Government under the work-and-learn
programme.
21. To broaden new entrants’ horizon and enable them to gain
international perspective as well as understanding of the global insurance
market, we propose to offer sponsorship for a maximum of 10 places per year
to top performing student-workers of the programme for a 2-week intensive
immersion programme in overseas insurance institutions. Subject to
refinements during implementation, the immersion programme would include
exposure to international insurance markets and information sharing sessions
with overseas insurance practitioners, etc.
(III) Internship programme
22. Short-term internship programmes allow university students to gain a
better understanding of the operation of the industry which would facilitate
their consideration in deciding their future career. We propose an incentive
scheme whereby the Government and insurers and insurance broker
companies jointly offer an attractive pay for summer internships. We
propose that, out of the monthly honorarium that a student would receive, the
Government would contribute up to 75% or $7,000 (whichever is the lower)
per month for an internship period up to two months, while the remaining sum
of honorarium as well as the cost for provision of guidance and coaching
should be contributed by the participating insurance companies and insurance
broker companies.
(IV) Financial incentive scheme for professional training
23. The industry pointed out that there is demand for advanced training in
technical aspects of insurance business (e.g. employees compensation
insurance, maritime insurance, and legal concepts such as vicarious liability,
8 The remuneration comprises basic salary and other allowances such as meal allowance and
transportation allowance, etc.
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third-party liability, etc.) and topical areas such as the latest regulatory
developments both locally and internationally (e.g. establishment of IIA and
compliance requirements regarding anti-money laundering & counter-terrorist
financing, etc.). Organising courses on these technical subjects would often
require inviting overseas expert speakers or more resources to develop course
materials. However, due to budgetary constraints, the SROs are not able to
organise such high quality and in-depth training courses currently.
24. Our proposal is to subsidize the SROs in organising high-quality
training courses focusing on the above functional or topical areas in insurance.
We propose to set up a Vetting Committee (“VC”) comprising practitioners
and other relevant stakeholders to consider proposals submitted by the three
SROs9. The VC would formulate a set of detailed assessment criteria, with
reference to the relevance of the course content, effectiveness, reasonableness
of cost and other factors, such as track records and experience of the
partnering training institutes (if any), quality of speakers, targeted audience
and expected level of attendance, etc. The proposal aims to provide high-end
courses at an affordable cost for practitioners who wish to enhance their
professional knowledge. We propose that the SROs charge participants a
registration fee and the remaining costs for organising the courses would be
reimbursed by the Government according to the actual expenses. A
post-course report covering level of attendance and evaluation by participants,
etc. will need to be submitted to the VC upon completion of the course.
Asset and Wealth Management Sector
25. To attract more new blood to expand the pool of talents (particularly
for the more technical areas) and enhance the professional competency of the
sector for pursuing the growth of the asset and wealth management sector, we
propose to implement the following initiatives (paragraphs 26-33 below).
(I) Promotion and education initiatives
26. We propose to reach out to undergraduate students of the University
Grants Committee (“UGC”)-funded institutions by launching various
promotion and education initiatives, such as talks by industry practitioners,
career seminars, job fairs, etc. The aim is to draw attention not only to the
careers in the asset and wealth management sector, but also the different roles
available in the whole spectrum of the industry, from front, middle to back
offices, in turn helping enhance undergraduate students’ understanding of the
sector and attract students to join the profession upon graduation. We will
9 SROs may partner with training institutes in organising the courses.
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pursue the initiatives through collaborative effort with the industry
associations and the UGC-funded institutions. We will also take the
opportunity to promote other talent training initiatives as mentioned below.
(II) Internship programme for undergraduate students
27. Internship experience would give the young generation early
exposure to the wide spectrum of career opportunities in the sector. We
propose to invite local financial institutions to participate in the programme
and offer intern places related to asset and wealth management during summer
vacation. The programme will be open to local non-final year undergraduate
students of UGC-funded institutions10
. We propose that the internship period
for each intern will last four weeks, and that each financial institution will take
up two rounds of interns over eight weeks during summer. Participating
financial institutions will be required to offer intern students meaningful
exposure to the asset and wealth management field11
.
28. We propose that, out of the monthly honorarium that a student would
receive, the Government could contribute up to 75% or $7,000 (whichever is
the lower) for an internship period of one month, while the remaining sum of
honorarium as well as the cost for provision of guidance and coaching should
be contributed by the financial institutions. Both student interns and
participating financial institutions will be asked to provide an assessment after
the internship.
(III) Financial incentive scheme for professional training
29. We propose to implement a financial incentive scheme for
professional training, which aims –
(a) to enhance the competency and professionalism of the in-service
practitioners within the asset and wealth management sector to
upgrade themselves throughout their career; and
(b) to assist other practitioners within the financial services industry
(particularly those working in small and medium sized
institutions) in acquiring the knowledge and skills to enable them
10
We propose that the selection criteria of students for joining the internship programme should be
decided by individual UGC-funded institutions.
11
We propose that participating financial institutions should be required to provide a brief, before
the start of the internship period, on the objective for the internship experience, and the
duties/exposure that will be given to the student interns.
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to enter into the asset and wealth management field.
30. We propose that in-service practitioners of the financial services
industry12
will be eligible for the scheme. They will be reimbursed 80% of the
fees upon satisfactory completion of a course13
under the selected
programmes of the scheme. Each individual may apply for fee reimbursement
for more than one course, up to a ceiling of $7,000 per person over the
three-year period.
31. We propose that, initially, courses under five selected programmes
offered by two non-profit-making training institutes, namely Hong Kong
Securities and Investment Institute (“HKSI”) and the Hong Kong Institute of
Bankers (“HKIB”), will be covered by the scheme. These selected
programmes will cover a wide range of investment/financial products and
services, as well as ethics, risk management and compliance, which will
enable participants to enhance their knowledge about the front, middle and
back office roles of the asset and wealth management sector14
.
32. Depending on the feedback of industry practitioners to the scheme,
we will consider including more relevant training courses in the scheme, say
in the second or third year of the pilot programme. We will also consider
introducing other incentive schemes for professional training, for example,
sponsoring high-quality training courses with qualified speakers at an
affordable cost for practitioners who wish to enhance their professional
knowledge.
33. Applications will be considered on a first-come-first-served basis,
and will remain open for applications until funding is fully committed.
12
Our current thinking is that an applicant must be in full-time employment with a financial
institution (e.g. he/she is employed by an organization licensed/registered by the Securities and
Futures Commission/Hong Kong Monetary Authority), but not necessarily be in the field of asset
and wealth management.
13
We propose that when seeking reimbursement of course fees, an applicant should provide
documentary proof issued by the course provider certifying that the applicant has completed the
course to the satisfaction of the provider.
14
Subject to further discussion with HKSI and HKIB, the selected programmes will include the
Enhanced Competency Framework programme, fundamental programmes on asset management,
risk management, compliance, clearance and settlement, etc. , programme on financial planning
and wealth management for retail wealth managers, and postgraduate diploma in credit, treasury,
operations and wealth management for private wealth managers.
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IMPLEMENTATION, CONTROL AND REVIEW MECHANISM
Insurance Sector
34. For the initiatives for the insurance sector, we plan to entrust VTC as
the implementation agent. Support from VTC includes arranging outreach
programmes to schools and coordinating inputs of industry to implement the
publicity initiatives. For the work-and-learn programme, apart from being
the course provider, VTC would promote the programme and provide
administrative support such as verification of student-workers’ attendance and
their employers’ fulfilment of stipulated conditions. VTC will also be
required to maintain communication with employers and student-workers to
ensure compliance with the stipulated conditions. VTC would serve as the
Secretariat of the VC for the financial incentive scheme for professional
training. VTC would enter into a service agreement with the Government
setting out its contractual obligations in clear terms. VTC would be required
to set up proper control and monitoring measures such as submitting regular
progress reports and records to the Government on the implementation
progress, and problems encountered and remedial measures taken. Under the
Vocational Training Council Ordinance (Cap. 1130), VTC’s financial
accounts are subject to internal audit by the auditor appointed under the
Ordinance. All financial records of VTC are also subject to the examination
of the Director of Audit. Participants would be required to complete
post-activity evaluation forms. Upon completion of the pilot programme,
VTC should also provide an evaluation of the overall effectiveness of the
programme.
Asset and Wealth Management Sector
35. We propose to engage the HKSI to provide services for the
implementation of the pilot programme. The HKSI was set up in 1997 as a
company limited by guarantee by leaders in the securities and investment
industry, with the support of the SFC and the Hong Kong Exchanges and
Clearing Limited (“HKEx”). It is currently a leading training institute with the
main objective of promoting and developing proper conduct, integrity and
high standards of professional competence of practitioners of the securities
and futures industry. It is non-profit making15
, with income from
membership fees, course and examination fees, as well as financial
contribution from the SFC to cover its expenditures.
15
According to the HKSI’s Articles of Association, the income and property of HKSI shall be
applied solely towards the promotion of its objectives, and no portion shall be transferred to
members of HKSI.
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36. The HKSI understands the training needs of the industry practitioners
and has developed an extensive network with the industry and other training
and tertiary institutions. Indeed, the HKSI Board comprises senior
management of reputable financial institutions, academia from tertiary
institutions, as well as representatives from the SFC and HKEx. This will
enable the HKSI to seek closer collaboration with tertiary institutions and the
industry to bring the initiatives in line with the needs of the industry.
37. We propose to enter into an agreement with the HKSI16
which will
require it to collaborate with industry associations and other training institutes
in planning and implementing the initiatives. We will also require the HKSI to
submit an annual implementation plan and budget before milestone payments
are made to it. The HKSI will be required to submit regular progress reports
on the implementation progress, any problems encountered and remedial
measures taken, alongside annual audited accounts. Towards the end of the
pilot programme, the HKSI should provide an evaluation of the overall
effectiveness of the programme.
38. We will set up a Steering Committee, to be chaired by FSTB,
comprising representatives from the industry associations, academia, HKSI
and HKIB to monitor the operation and progress, as well as to review the
implementation of the pilot programme and make recommendations.
39. Taking into account the views of the Steering Committee, we will
review the usage of funds regularly and fine-tune the implementation details in
the light of practical experience and feedback. Refinements to the proposed
initiatives may be introduced where appropriate within the overall scope of the
pilot programme during the implementation period.
ALLOCATION OF FUNDING AND EXPECTED BENEFITS
40. The Government has set aside a total of $100 million to take forward
the proposed pilot programme. For initial planning, we envisage that the
funding may be allocated to the following initiatives, with appropriate
refinements in the course of implementation –
16
According to the HKSI’s Articles of Association, the HKSI has the power to enter into any
arrangements with the Government that may seem conducive to the objects of the HKSI.
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Initiative
No. of
persons to be
benefited in
three years
Estimated
funding
($ million)
Insurance Sector
(a) working with the insurance sector on
publicity and outreach (paragraphs 14-16
above)
n.a. 25.0
(b) providing training allowance to
student-workers of the work-and-learn
programme and sponsorship for overseas
immersion programme (paragraphs 17-21
above)17
12018
7.2
(c) providing internship subsidy to university
students (paragraph 22 above)
150 2.1
(d) providing subsidy to the three SROs for
organizing more in-depth training courses for
practitioners (paragraphs 23-24 above)
Cannot be
estimated at
this stage19
12.0
Sub-total 46.3
17
Given that the work-and-learn programme would take 16 months to complete, the training
allowance for students-workers would be provided until the third year intakes complete the
course, i.e. the use of money will straddle more than the three years after the commencement of
the pilot scheme.
18
The overall target is to train a total of 120 student-workers within the three years. The number
of intakes per year is suggested to be flexible, depending on the number of applicants and
available placements.
19
The cost per training course can vary a lot depending on the scale, the qualification of the
speakers and mode of delivery, e.g. a focused workshop on Employee Compensation insurance
for 50 participants may cost about $100,000 but the development of professional training
materials and on-line courses on professional indemnity insurance or marine insurance law and
practice may cost more than $800,000 which can benefit many practitioners. The industry has
thus advised that it is difficult to provide an estimate on the number of courses / beneficiaries at
this stage. Proposals submitted by the SROs will be vetted by the VC based on a set of detailed
assessment criteria (paragraph 24 refers).
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Initiative
No. of
persons to be
benefited in
three years
Estimated
funding
($ million)
Asset and Management Sector
(e) Promotion and education initiatives
(paragraph 26 above)
n.a. 5.0
(f) Internship programme for undergraduate
students (paragraphs 27-28 above)
450 3.220
(g) Financial incentive scheme for professional
training (paragraphs 29-33 above)
500021
35.021
Sub-total 43.2
Administrative cost22
Sub-total 10.5
Total 100
41. We propose a flexible approach to setting the split among different
initiatives under the insurance sector and the asset and wealth management
sector to cater for actual demand.
CONSULTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS
42. Since the announcement of the 2014-15 Budget initiative to enhance
talent training for the financial services industry, we have conducted focus
groups with the insurance sector and the asset and wealth management sector.
20
Assuming that the Government contributes up to $7,000 of the monthly honorarium to be paid to
a total of 450 student interns over the three-year period.
21
We expect that about 2400 in-service practitioners will attend courses under the five selected
programmes, which will require $16.8 million (assuming that each practitioner will be
reimbursed 80% of the course fees, up to $7,000 per person). We also propose to reserve $18.2
million for including more relevant training courses and other incentive schemes for professional
training at a later stage over the pilot period. We hope that an additional 2 600 in-service
practitioners will be benefitted (this is only a rough estimate which would be subject to change
depending on the actual courses/programmes/initiatives to be included to the scheme).
22
Including administrative fees to the implementation partners and contract staff cost.
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We have also consulted the industry and the relevant stakeholders on the
details of the pilot programme to ensure that the programme devised can meet
the needs of the industry and achieve its objectives.
WAY FORWARD
43. Subject to funding approval by the LegCo Finance Committee for
implementing the proposed three-year pilot programme, we aim to roll out the
various initiatives starting early 2016.
Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau
May 2015